The Straight And Narrow I

‘For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies’ James 5:4.

What we have to deal with today applies to all of us really. Is it right to use pirated software, download and watch pirated movies straight off the internet, or buy pirated music discs. Take some time out to think about this as it relates to you and the software you either work with or use leisurely, movies and music that you own.

The question first and foremost is it lawful to pirate other peoples material or content? It is unlawful and as Christians we have to be law abiding. Now speaking as someone who is in the IT industry, I know the cost of getting the right tools when you can get them for free on crack sites. A lot of the so-called free material online is not really free. What has happened is that someone has cracked into another person’s material and then put it online for others to download for free. I have used pirated software before but I have repented. A time came when I said to myself, ‘you will produce something someday by the grace of God. How will you feel if other people are stealing your product and depriving you of your income because what you sow you will reap’. That day I made up my mind to stop using pirated software. Even though I could not afford the original material at that time, I took practical steps to move to open source operating systems. I also took practical steps to enforce this at my office at that time. The truth is that you are stealing other people’s produce and it will count against you. After I took that step and decided to trust God, God began to provide and guess what, there is no software that we need today that by the grace of God we don’t have except it hasn’t been produced. This is because God will bless you on the path of righteousness. Will it be tough? Of course!

People invest their entire life savings into producing a movie. Then you don’t buy the original but you buy the pirated copy or download it from the Internet. How does that help them? I know it’s a tough thing particularly in our culture but again they that will live righteously in this world must follow a path called the straight and narrow.

Prayer: Father, help me do what is right before You particularly in the seemingly harmless things, in Jesus Name.